The Latest of the Mohicans

Do you ever find yourself constantly checking your cell phone for updates, or your Facebook for new texts? Man, I need to get focused! School time, study time.
Christmas was great, as usual. We ate muffins. With blueberries.
Shortly after Christmas, about two days, I left for Utah. I pulled into to Draper, Utah, where my friend Alex Murray bought me a Whopper. This just began my journey. I slept at Mike Moreno's house, we made some hilarious raps on his computer, and the next morning I got to play a scrimmage game of soccer with BYU's soccer team. They were good, really really good. So good, I was tired! Then it was off to meet with Nick Rich. Oh, good old Nick, that saint. It doesn't stop there though! We drove to St. George that night.
Do I have you anticipating what is going on right now? Are you on the edge of your seat, or are you kind of begrudgingly wondering why I don't I come out and state the destination of our trip? Either way, read on, my captivated or annoyed audience!
We met up with Mitch Anderson (my good friend from accounting class). And Kason Shaw, from the mission. Mitch took me to see his family and it was great! He woke up his mom, his mom woke up his dad, and his little sister even woke up, just to meet me! I felt bad that they all were woken up at 10 pm, just to meet me. But, it feels good that they did it, just to meet me. What's more, is his mom offered to make us ham sandwiches for our trip. Well, 4 ham sandwiches later, 5 oranges, rice crispy treats, crackers, chips, many more snacks in one hefty blue bag later. Oh yeah, she made me all those things for the trip, and later I was on my way. Mitch took me on a hike to see St. George. I wouldn't mind living there for quite a while sometime in my life.
One of the problems with having your phone on silent all the time is sometimes you don't hear the vibration of your phone as you're sleeping. There I was. Sleeping. In a sleeping bag (I like sleeping bags, so easy to make your bed in the morn). Luckily, my brother didn't only text, he also called. He and his FIANCE! Allison were coming up to Salt Lake City, seeking to beat the storm, leaving Arizona at 3 am. Sheesh. I'm glad he called me! Our paths did cross at Denny's that morning at 9 am, were his FIANCE! bought us both breakfast. I know, I should have done the boughting, but she wanted to see if her credit card was working, due to some rumors from the company about a "stolen!" credit card. It was so good to see Matt and Allison (his FIANCE!). It was the first time I'd seen him since August. And the first time I'd seen Allison in about 4 years. Matt and I still keep close though, through Skype. What a program, Skype.
Then, we made a stop in Vegas, to visit the Bass Pro Shop. There was an aquarium there, and a guy was scuba diving in the aquarium, feeding the fish and sting rays. Wow, what a brave man.
We got out of Sin City fast, but not fast enough to not have to buy gas for a stunning $3.30/gallon. Ouch. It was my turn to fill the gas tank too.
A quick stop in Riverside to see one of Nick's friend's wedding reception. Then we finally made it to our destination. Ah yes, good old San Diego. We couldn't wait to get a genuine California Burrito in our gullets. We had plenty of that, plenty of seeing old friends, plenty of everything! It was so great to see everyone again. Xulong and Lin took me out for breakfast: duck porridge! It was great! And then we went to see the Mormon Battalion. I told Xulong I might mention him in my blog and post a picture of him. He said my blog would get overloaded with views. In his own words:

"Xulong, the famous Nobel Laureate from China."

This one's for you, Xulong!

One of the best moments of the trip was sitting in the ward Nick Rich and I served in together: La Mesa. A sister walked over when she saw us, leaned over the pew and says "Elder Rich! It's so good to see you, how are you?" She gave me a one and a half take, and I could tell she almost recognized me. I'll give her some slack though, I was wearing different glasses. I found out that day that when you leave someplace, you don't leave your name. You leave a job well done, and a legacy to be carried on. Go future!

I didn't get to see Anni and her baby Jordyn though. Next time I'm in SD, I will for sure.

Who can forget Tyler, Barabara, and Elliott. We had a delightful afternoon listening to the invention that was made before the cassette player. It's not a compact disc, but it's shaped like one. Bigger, blacker. I'm sure I'll think of what it's called later. We played a riveting game of yahtzee and laughed at old times. Whew. Good times.

Now, for those of you who know me, know that I don't like to dance. Or shop. But, here's the deal. I was dropped off in Las Angeles for 3 hours. I was dropped off by a mall. And a Ross. One hundred dollars per hour! Dang! That's a lot for me. I didn't even need much, just a couple pair of pants. So, I'm going to try to go for a full 30 days and not wear the same shirt twice. See if I can do it. The shirts that don't get worn in the 30 day period just might get the axe.

It took us 2 days to drive back from SD. I got tb right around the Idaho border (tb is tired butt), which isn't bad, considering how far we drove. Back to school now.

Chemistry and Biology are my heavy hitters.

That is all! A rather abbreviated time period of my life.

May 18th- I remember what its called! Its a record player! That's what Tyler and Barbara had, and I remembered we listened to Sufjan and Vampire Weekend. Someday, I'ma have a record player, and when my friends come over for dinner, I'll pop a record on and pour them some juice.